HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) — Cooperstown rejected Astros legend Billy Wagner this year, and this season’s Houston team isn’t exactly hall-of-fame worthy so far.
But at least we got Orbit.
The ballclub’s anthropomorphic green alien, known for teasing the opposing dugout while saying nothing, became an inductee to the Mascot Hall of Fame.
According to the hall, a vote of 90,000 fans admitted Orbit – who may or may not have an evil twin named Comet – into the illustrious hall in Whiting, Indiana.
Orbit will enter with San Francisco Giants’ marine mischief-maker Lou Seal, the University of Montana’s Monte the Grizzly Bear, and the Jacksonville Jaguars’ Jaxson de Ville, whose portrayer famously donned nothing but body paint, a Speedo, and the jaguar head.
Orbit becomes one of just eight Major League Baseball mascots in the hall and the second from Houston. The Rockets’ Clutch the Bear was a 2006 inductee.
Orbit’s history
Like many of your favorite movie and television franchises, Orbit is a reboot of the same named alien who existed at the Astrodome from 1990 to 1999.
The team’s move to Minute Maid Park at Union Station in 2000 gave way to the introduction of Junction Jack, a locomotive conductor jackrabbit who existed until 2012.
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By the time the team changed ownership, leagues, divisions, colors, and logo, Orbit got another look, reborn on Nov. 2, 2012, according to the Mascot Hall of Fame.
Orbit’s antics, always pulled with a smile, famously included a feud with former MLB pitcher Chris Archer. Orbit once tried to pass off a laxative as an “electrolyte formula” as a peace offering.
Got any memories or wacky photos with Orbit? You can send 13 yours here.
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